Favoritos de williamwisephoto

Turtle was almost certainly hit by vehicles coming in and out of the beach access parking lot located very near to here (the dead turtle was located just outside the lot, on the road, at the turn-in point).

I saw 2 turtles this day; the 2nd was alive and heading quickly to a burrow that is located in the forementioned parking lot; unfortunately, there’s no “real” curb separating the grassy areas of the parking lot from the driving surface (just a very small and low asphalt hump). In the very short time I was at the lot today, a car drove across the grass and back onto the parking surface — although this particular car did not drive over the burrow (as the car was on a different grassy part of the lot), the situation paints a picture of the useless “curbs” (which are really just small bumps) and the unprotected burrow.

Perhaps a turtle warning sign could be installed, and the burrow sectioned off. Adding a real curb would be another consideration. In addition to the camera photos, I took a couple phone photos to ensure as precise a GPS as possible.

—>My observation for the burrow (live turtle) is here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/160139557

—>Click the “i” on a photo to access the observation for the dead turtle.

American Alligator capture-tag-release, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. April 14, 2023. ©williamwisephoto.com

• Mostly sunny, with a high 83.
• Sunrise 7:04 AM; Sunset 7:58 PM
• Daylight hours: 12 hours 53 minute (+1m 48s)

Learn more and support the research at https://okeswamp.org/alligator-research/

unbelievable congregation of wading birds and gulls -- between 150 - 200 Great Egrets, plus dozens of Snowy Egrets, Roseate Spoonbills, Wood Storks (2), Tricolored Herons, Little Blue Herons, Great Blue Herons, Glossy Ibis, White Ibis, Bonaparte's Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls

Large (~9 ft, perhaps more) male preying on a smaller, but still substantially sized (~4 ft) subadult. Not sure if the initial encounter was predatory or territorial in nature, but it was clear the intent to consume became realized at some point.